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CCP Spotlight features projects and programs that
have been developed by the Chesapeake & Coastal
Program and their partners to help advance coastal
management in Maryland.

On
March 23, 2011, 442 acres of the Holly Grove region of
Worcester County, Maryland were preserved for public
open space through a partnership between CCP, the
County, the Maryland Coastal Bays Program, DNR's Program
Open Space, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration's (NOAA) Coastal and Estuarine Land
Conservation Program (CELCP) and the Trust for
Public Land. The property is a large, forested wetland
complex along a half-mile stretch of Ayers Creek. It has
a unique mix of coastal forest and highly functional
estuarine and palustrine forested wetland complexes.
Passive recreation opportunities will be available for
hiking and bird watching and the public will be able to
kayak near the property. Adjacent to this
property is the Golden Quarters Farm, another CELCP
property protected through a conservation easement.

In
2009, this project ranked as the 3rd of 57 projects
in the Nation in 2009 receiving $1,375,000 from the
NOAA's CELCP. The property will preserve important
natural landscape, help maintain the water quality of
the Coastal Bays and provide public access in
perpetuity. Through NOAA's CELCP, Maryland's Chesapeake
and Coastal Program works to identify and
protect important coastal and estuarine areas that have
significant conservation, recreation, ecological,
historical or aesthetic values, or that are threatened
by conversion from their natural or recreational state
to other uses.Learn more about this
property and what the Chesapeake & Coastal Program
does to protect coastal lands through CELCP.

On March
18, 2011,
NOAA announced its approval of Maryland's
enforceable coastal policies. Under
the Coastal Zone Management Act, direct Federal actions,
Federal license or permit activities and federal
financial assistance activities that have reasonably
foreseeable coastal effects must be consistent with the
enforceable policies of state coastal management
programs.

To
assist Federal agencies in determining whether their
activities are likely to affect coastal uses or
resources, Maryland's
coastal policies are now available online. Click here to view them on CCP's Coastal
Policies webpage.

Over the past three years,
the Watershed Assistance Collaborative
(Collaborative) has been assisting local
communities to accelerate the implementation of Bay
and coastal restoration projects.As
the name implies, the Collaborative is a partnership
among the Maryland Department of Natural Resources,
Chesapeake Bay Trust, Center for Smart Growth and Environmental
Finance
Center, University
of Maryland SeaGrant Extension, Maryland Department
of the Environment, NOAA and EPA.The
Collaborative, with its dedicated staff of Regional
Watershed Restoration Specialists, has leveraged more
than $860,000 dollars in direct technical assistance and
has assisted over 31 communities in the identification,
design and engineering of shovel ready restoration
projects; has identified more than 75 acres of forested
buffer plantings on
both the Eastern and Western shores and in southern
Maryland; and has assisted several communities with the
development of innovative financing strategies and new
stormwater utilities.

With
the levels of implementation required under the
Chesapeake Bay TMDL, the Collaborative is experienced
and well-positioned to help locals implement their
restoration strategies. To learn more about the
Watershed Assistance Collaborative and their successes
over the past three years,

PLANNING
FOR CLIMATE CHANGE AND PROTECTION OF OCEAN AND COASTAL
RESOURCES

CCP's
5-Year Coastal
Zone Enhancement Plan Approved by
NOAA

On
April 6th, Maryland's Chesapeake & Coastal Program
received final NOAA approval for its 2011-2015 Coastal
Zone Section 309 Assessment and Strategy, prepared as
part of the NOAA Coastal Zone Enhancement Grants
Program. The outlined strategies will improve the
State's ability to plan for climate change, protect
critical coastal resources and foster clean coastal
industries.

CCP's
2011-2015 Section 309 Assessment & Strategy is now
available online. Click here to access the full
document.For
more information on the Section 309 Assessment and
Strategy, e-mail Catherine McCall with Maryland's
Chesapeake & Coastal Program or call
410.260.8737.

NATIONAL
ACADEMIES CONDUCTING STUDY ON INCREASING NATIONAL
RESILIENCE TO HAZARDS AND DISASTERS

Request for Survey
Participation

At
the request of a number of sponsoring federal agencies,
the National Academies are conducting a study on
Increasing National Resilience to Hazards and Disasters.
The goal of the study is to provide actionable
recommendations and guidance on the best approaches to
reduce adverse impacts from hazards and disasters.

As
part of the study, the National Academies committee is
visiting a number of communities around the nation to
assess how they have responded to disasters in the past
and how they view and assess their resilience to future
disasters. Because
the committee is unable to visit all communities, they
are asking for your help to find out more about your
community through this short questionnaire: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/463575/How-resilient-is-your-community-to-disasters.

The
committee
welcomes input until July
1, 2011.
Click here for more
information on the study and the
committee.

Maryland
has used the information gathered through its extensive
outreach activities to help the Department of the
Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation
and Enforcement (BOEMRE) identify a proposed wind energy
planning area off Maryland's Atlantic Coast.DNR is one of a number of state and federal
agencies that is represented on a Maryland Offshore
Renewable Energy Task Force convened by BOEMRE. The Task
Force serves as a forum through which BOEMRE can share
current information about its offshore leasing
activities and elected officers of State, local, and
tribal governments and other Federal officials may
provide meaningful and timely input in the
implementation of the BOEMRE renewable energy regulatory
framework.By having all parties at
the same table, the Task Force aims to facilitate
information sharing as early as possible and to give
interested and affected parties the opportunity to
actively provide input into the leasing process rather
than simply react to BOEMRE
actions.

Maryland's
ocean planning efforts to date have resulted in the
collection of site-specific ocean use and natural
resource data; identification of knowledge gaps and
research needs; a better understanding of the breadth of
ocean uses and potential areas of conflict; and early
discussions with stakeholder groups to establish a
transparent ocean planning process. Click here to visit CCP's Ocean Planning
and Offshore Renewable Energy webpage to learn more
about DNR's stakeholder outreach
efforts.

MARCO
HIGHLIGHTS DOCUMENT AND NEW REGIONAL MAPPING PORTAL NOW
AVAILABLE

The Mid-Atlantic
Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO) has
released their document, Highlights:
Moving in the Right Direction, that tracks the
progress MARCO has made since 2008 in
establishing and embarking on a regional agenda for
shared state action in the Mid-Atlantic. Click here to view the MARCO
Highlights document.

MARCO's
new Mapping and Planning Portal is an online tool
that allows state, federal, and local decision-makers
and the public to visualize, query, map, and analyze
ocean and coastal data in the Mid-Atlantic region. Click here to visit the MARCO Map
Portal.

NOAA
DIGITAL COAST OFFERS FREE WEBINAR
SERIES

Learn How to
Access and Use Its Tools, Data and
Information

Tools
like Maryland's Coastal Atlas and MERLIN
Online are made possible largely due to the availability
of good geospatial data and tools. One source of
data that DNR and CCP have been able to tap is NOAA's
Digital Coast. Datasets from LIDAR to marine
jurisdictions have been downloaded from Digital Coast
and incorporated into the Atlas and other State mapping
applications.

The
same data, tools and information is also available to
you. To learn more about what Digital Coast has to
offer and how their tools, data, and information are
being used, NOAA is offering a free webinar
series which will feature monthly
presentations.
Please
see below for the first few dates and titles.

All
webinars are scheduled on the last Thursday of the month
from 2:00-3:00
p.m.eastern
time. Click on the Digital
Coast
webinar title below to register.

More
information on the series can be found under the
"Featured Resources" link on the Digital Coast home page. Upcoming
webinars are also listed on the Digital Coast Training
page under "Upcoming Training Opportunities." Click here to see a full list of webinars
as the series develops.

AND,
if you have any stories regarding use of the
Digital
Coast
tools,
datasets, etc., please take the time to share them with
us by e-mailing Chris Cortina with the Chesapeake
& Coastal
Program.

Please feel free to contact us
with any comments, questions or ideas for future IN THE ZONE
e-mails.

Sincerely,

Your Chesapeake & Coastal Program
Team

Maryland Department of
Natural Resources

A
publication of the Maryland Coastal Zone Management Program
pursuant to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Award No. NA10NOS4190204. This publication is funded (in part)
by a grant/cooperative agreement from the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The views expressed herein
are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the
views of NOAA or any of its
sub-agencies.